Venture giants 3i axe 185 in cuts

British venture capital firm 3i Group Plc said it will cut 185 jobs and close seven offices as its investment returns plummeted in the wake of the equity market downturn.

The cutbacks, representing about 17 percent of the workforce, plus a 22.6 percent fall in 3i's net asset value, knocked its shares down six percent to 743 pence in afternoon dealing.

3i, the UK's leading venture capital group, has been a large backer for successful new media investments, but would be reducing investment over the next year or so, Finance Director Michael Queen revealed.

"3i are trying to move away from doing a large number of small deals to a small number of larger transactions, and so it makes sense to scale back the size of the teams," said one insider.